Adams was born in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1767. He spent much of his childhood accompanying his father, the nation's second president, John Adams, on diplomatic missions across Europe. While his father was vice president, President Washington appointed John Quincy Adams as minister to the Netherlands. He was named minister to Prussia during his father's presidency. Adams entered the political arena in 1802, when he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate. He was a U.S. senator from 1803 until 1808 before returning to diplomatic duties, (including negotiating the Treaty of Ghent) until 1814.

John Quincy Adams served as secretary of state for James Monroe from 1817 until 1825, during which time he supervised the 1820 census, and oversaw a congressionally mandated expansion of its focus. For the first time, there was a rudimentary attempt to count occupations, and more details were collected on non-Whites.

Adams was elected president in 1824, in a contest that was so bitter that his legislative agenda was almost crippled by congressional rivals, especially Jacksonian Democrats. After he was defeated for reelection in 1828, Adams became the first and to date only president to return to elected office, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1831 until 1848. He died in Washington, DC in February 1848.